Swimmer&#39;s sled



July 10, 1962 w. M. SAEMAN SWIMMER S SLED 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 19, 1959 INVENTOR. WILL/AM M. SAEMA/V July 10, 1962 w. M. SAEMAN 3,042,945

SWIMMERS SLED Filed May 19, 1959 2 Sheets$heet 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. WILL/AM M. SAEMA/V nits fires art 3,042,945 SWlMhERS SLED William Saeman, Sunnyvale, Calif. (Box 144, Malibu, (Ialifi) Filed May 19, 1959, Ser. No. 814,321 1 Ciaim. (11]. 9-310) This invention relates to swimming equipment and more particularly to a buoyant water sled particularly useful in providing a mobile base of operations for underwater exploration and spear fishing, popularly referred to as skin diving In the sport of skin diving it is customary for a swimmer to stay below the surface of the water for extended periods with the aid of air tanks usually strapped to his back to provide an adequate air supply for breathing, and a glass mask covering his face to assist him in viewing submarine conditions and activity. customarily this underwater exploration is restricted to a single location or marine area. One reason for this has been that the aforementioned air tanks and other paraphernalia usually worn by a skin diver make climbing out of the water and over the gunwales of boats rather awkward and unhandy. As a result, short rest periods for a swimmer who must operate out of a boat tend to become rather impracticable.

According to the present invention, however, there has been provided a buoyant sled which is easily boarded or mounted by a swimmer from out of the water in order to enable him to take a few moments rest between dives, and which can be propelled by the swimmer lying thereon thereby providing him with a mobile base of operations. As the swimmer propels the sled of the invention to a new submarine hunting ground, he can easily and continuously view underwater conditions notwithstanding small waves breaking across the sled, by means of a double glass, fiushly mounted window located in juxtaposition to the swimmers face. The window of the invention is arranged to allow a quick run-off of Water and thereby prevents any substantial accumulation of water thereon.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a buoyant sled which can be easily and conveniently boarded from out of the water and propelled by a swimmer lying thereon to provide him with a mobile base of operations, and it is a more particular object of the invention to provide such a sled having a port vertically therethrough which permits continuous underwater viewing regardless of water washing thereacross as a rider propels the sled to a new location.

It-is another object of the invention to provide such a sled wherein the buoyancy in the stern is less than in the bow to further assist a swimmer in mounting it from out of the water.

A further object of the invention is to provide a buoyant sled of general water sport utility including provision of non-skid surfaces located thereon to permit it to be ridden by a standing rider in the manner of an aquaplane; provision of a body contour which enables a novice swimmer to practice the usual arm and leg movements used in learning to swim; provision of a pointed prow which is useful in piercing an incoming breaking surf to enable a person, such as a beach lifeguard, to pass through incoming breakers which would otherwise tend to overpower him and throw him back toward the beach; and provision of permanent buoyant reserve to make it unsinkable.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a buoyant sled having all the foregoing features and which is of simple and inexpensive construction.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode which has been contemplated of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the invention with a portion of the peripheral flange removed for purposes of more clearly showing the invisble interior lines thereof.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the invention.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sections of FIG. 3 taken at lines 44 and 55 respectively.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged portion of FIG. 4 to show how the edge of the sled is sealed.

Briefly stated, the present invention is directed to a buoyant sled 10, preferably molded from a strong, light 7 weight material such as a glass cloth impregnated with a polyester resin as sold under the registered trade mark Fiberglas. Sled 10 is provided with an inclined and concave or cup-shaped ramp 20 approximately the size and contour of the lower torso or waist and hip region of a human located with respect to a pair of grips or handles 21 forwardly thereof to make it generally very easy for a swimmer to pull himself aboard, or partially so, even while wearing heavy air tanks and other paraphernalia, and which, when a rider is properly in position lying thereon face down, will snugly hold the rider in place. Thus, the concave shape of ramp 20 more closely integrates the rider with the sled as a unit to permit the rider to better control the navigation of the sled. Further assistance in helping a swimmer from the water is achieved by providing greater buoyancy to the bow portion of the sled than to the stern portion. Either of handles 21 which assist a swimmer to pull himself aboard the sled will also function as a carrying grip for the sled when it is transported on land since they are both located substantially in line with the center of gravity of the sled.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a sled It) having a flat upper surface 12 and a bifurcated rear portion comprised of a pair of spaced apart sponson members 11. Inasmuch as sled it is symmetrical, top and bottom, only the exposed upper portion, as shown in the drawings, will be described. Sponson members 11 are spread apart sufficiently to impart to sled 10 a considerable lateral stability as well as to allow a swimmer lying on sled It) to kick his feet up and down therebetween Without interference, and yet are not so widely separated as to prevent the swimmer from resting his legs thereon should he so desire. To further minimize interference with a swimmers kicking movements, the ends lle of members 11 extend only to a position corresponding roughly to the midpoint between the riders knee and ankle as he lies face down on sled 10. Furthermore, the body contour in the general region designated by reference numerals 12 is narrow enough to permit overhand swimming arm movements.

interposed between the forward portions of sponson members 11, is an inclined and concave or cupped ramp 20 which, by its inclination allows a swimmer riding on sled It) to slide easily into the water as well as helping him to board sled 10 from out of the water. The degree of incline to ramp 20 is best shown in FIG. 2. Forwardly of ramp 2% and on each side of sled 10, in a longitudinal position approximately opposite the center of gravity of sled 10, is a handle or grip 21 formed in a flange 23, described below, which runs around the entire periphery of sled 1i). Grips 21 are within a-rrns reach of a swimmer attempting to mount ramp 26.

To further assist a swimmer in boarding sled 10 the bow, as can be seen in FIG. 2, is designed with greater buoyancy than the stern thereby making it relatively easy for a swimmer in the water between members '11 to submerge ramp 26 so as to help: him get aboard sled 10.

As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, there is provided a window 15 which includes an upper and a lower pane, 25a and 25b, of transparent material, such as any of the well known clear plastics. For ease in assembly and to provide a simple seal around each pane 25, they are made slightly larger than their corresponding openings 26a and 26b formed in the top and bottom (i.e. overwater and underwater) surfaces 12 of sled 10 so as to overlap openings 26 from the inside. A watertight seal around window 15 is thus easily provided by bonding the periphery of each pane 25 to the underneath bordering surface 27 around each opening 26. The slight lip 24 (FIG. 1) resulting from bonding panes 25 behind openings 26 provides some degree of protection against scratching panes 25 when sled 10 is lying for example on a beach. On the other hand, lip 24 is also low enough that water cannot accumulate on pane 25a to a degree which would cause undue distortion or obscuring of the underwater view via window 15. Therefore, although panes 25 are herein described as being substantially flush with their respective underwater and overwater sled surfaces 12, the term substantially flush has been used here in this sense.

In order to provide sled 10 with permanent reserve buoyancy which will remain unaffected by any leaks into its generally hollow interior (see FEGS. 4 and 5) and further to strengthen and add rigidity to the shell of sled at its most easily damaged exposed surfaces, i.e. at ends lie and bow 19, sled 10 is placed vertically on end on its prow during manufacture and, prior to insertion of both of panes 25, a thermal setting expandable foam plastic 31 is poured into its hollow bow portion; When the foam hardens, it remains in place to provide a permanent buoyant filler to the bow of sled 10. The same procedure is followed to partially fill sponson members 11 with expandable foam plastic. In its preferred form, sled 10 itself is formed from a pair of molded halfsurfaces 23, each having a peripheral flange 23 thereon extending outwardly therefrom. The two half-surfaces are placed in alignment with each other and flanges 23 are then sealed together with plastic, such as by a vinyl extrusion 29, as shown in FIG. 6.

Finally, each half-surface 28 is provided with a pair of non-skid tread surfaces 32 located aft of the center of buoyancy of sled 10 approximately across from the trailing edge 20a of ramp 20. Treads 32 permit a rider to stand on sled 10 and ride it in the manner of an aquaplane with the aid of a rope or reins tied through a hole 33 in the forward portion of flange 23.

While there have been shown and described and pointed 5 in the operation may be made by those skilled in the art,

without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, a single grip could be formed in surface 12 forward of ramp 20 on the center line of sled 10, and in this manner assist a swimmer to board ramp 20. it is 10 the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

A substantially rigid buoyant platform for supporting a swimmer, said platform comprising a forwardly extend- 15 ing body supporting portion of sufiiciently narrow construction to permit overhand arm movements for swimming, a rear portion integral with said forwardly extending portion, said rear portion including a pair of elongated body supporting members spaced apart to provide a rearwardly facing open area therebetween in said rear portion of said platform, said pair of members merging at their forward ends, said body supporting members each being formed on the top and bottom with an inboard surface sloping symmetrically away from a substantially horizontal medial plane through said rear portion, said inboard surfaces extending forwardly andmer ing to form a pair of cupped torso supporting surfaces disposed top and bottom of said rear portion, the latter said surfaces as viewed in vertical half section taken lengthwise of said rear portion being symmetrically inclined to lead forwardly audaway from said medial plane and merging with the top and bottom surfaces of said platform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS.

D. 160,712 Kahn Oct. 1, 1950 1,461,911 Jordahn July 17, 1923 9 1,608,000 Ranlett Nov. 23, 192 6 4 2,327,794 Hurt Aug. 24, 1943 2,395,266 Gardner Feb. 19, 1946 2,815,518 Kuehn Dec. 10, 1957 2,816,299 Holliday Dec. 17, 1957 2,841,406 Brandon July 1, 1958 2,931,332 Hebrank Apr. 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 428,636 Italy Dec. 29, 1947 458,331 Italy July 10, 1950 1,029,133 France Mar. 4, 1953 

